I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Essay

In Alice Walker’s novel, The Color Purple, black feminism is the main focus for women in the 1900s. Likewise, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou, is an autobiography on the struggles she personally went through in life. The constant segregation and bullying was hard on Angelou and this novel vividly illustrates the struggles. The themes are very similar and show how the struggles are ongoing and spread throughout the black society. God is a special person in both situations and is…

the mask in order to achieve a better future. In the end, Dunbar is saying that it is worth it; a better future outweighs the old culture. Dunbar advocates that it is good to assimilate, to wear the mask and live in a cage, but at the same time to sing, not forget one’s origin, and to be proud of a diverse…

way out? Such is the case with Mrs. Mallard, from “The Story of an Hour”, and Mrs. Wright, from Trifles. At first, Mrs. Mallard does not realize that she is trapped, but after her husband dies, she has an awakening. Mrs. Wright, on the other hand, knows that her life is like a cage. Everything thing that is special is taken away from her, therefore she takes matter in her own hands. Even though these two stories have a different opening and a different storyline, both Mrs. Mallard and Mrs.…

life that no one would ever think of. Through all of her trials and tribulations she has never failed to the give back to the world. Maya is fulfilled with Courage and determination to remain strong. She has an unbelievable amount of accomplishments. I believe everything about this amazing African-American woman is encouraging and motivating. Maya Angelou was born April 4, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. Maya was born Marguerite Annie Johnson. She got the name ‘Maya’ from her older brother,…

anything! I can’t get a word out of her. She’s mute” (Anderson 114). Melinda becomes nearly mute, unable to speak. She puts a picture in front of the mirror she does not even want to look at herself. Melinda cannot move on because she blames herself for what happened that night. “Her eyes meet mine for a second. I hate you, Rachel mouths silently.” (Anderson 5) Melinda and Rachel have been best friends for a long time. “[They] communicate with notes…

There are three main characters who suffered the most and dealt with their suffering in various ways. For example, Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird was harshly criticized by his sister and citizens of Maycomb County for defending a black man, Tom Robinson, in court. Aunt Alexandra said that Atticus would destroy the family name and Mrs. Dubose said that he was no better than the black person and trash he was working for. Though suffering from this backlash, it just encourages him to…

We all strive to be great and successful, however, there is a process we use that is unique to each of us. Some may know it as the "goal to a white picket fence," others as the "American dream." As little kids we were always asked what we wanted to be when we grew up, so from a young age we were already dreaming of what we wanted to do and who we wanted to be. This set us up to create our own aspirations and what we would call personal successes. No matter who you are, the American dream is…

Alice Walker, Maya Angelou, and Zora Neale Hurston are prominent black women authors in contemporary American literature. These three women share their experiences living in the South during a time of racism. Each of them has a distinct writing style. All include an insight into experiences similar to ones they have gone through and the impact it makes on black women in society. “Feminism’s second wave in the United States—initially a reflection of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and…

A general biology curriculum most often covers a brief introduction into genetics. During these lectures, instructors present evidence that at conception there is a 50 percent chance the developing embryo will mature into a boy or a girl. Before birth, gender is seen as equal. However, to be born a man or a woman in any society is more than a simple biological fact. It is a biological fact with social implications. The term gender binary describes the idea in which a society splits its members…

1. I believe we were assigned the excerpt from All Things Shining by Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Dorrance Kelly to help us understand the value of reading literature. While technology is able to do nearly everything for us, having the skill to analyze a book is invaluable. In All Things Shining, Dreyfus and Kelly use the example of GPS to explain that technology deprives us of living. They explain that before GPS was around everyone developed the skill of navigation. People had to pay attention to…